On the tail of the Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another DM and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.
Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. Another choice is the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game. Published by Straycouches Press, Crawl! is one such fanzine dedicated to the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game. Since Crawl! No. 1 was published in March, 2012 has not only provided ongoing support for the roleplaying game, but also been kept in print by Goodman Games. Now because of online printing sources like Lulu.com, it is no longer as difficult to keep fanzines from going out of print, so it is not that much of a surprise that issues of Crawl! remain in print. It is though, pleasing to see a publisher like Goodman Games support fan efforts like this fanzine by keeping them in print and selling them directly.
Where Crawl! No. 1 was something of a mixed bag, Crawl! #2 was a surprisingly focused, exploring the role of loot in the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and describing various pieces of treasure and items of equipment that the Player Characters might find and use. Similarly, Crawl! #3: The Magic Issue was just as focused, but the subject of its focus was magic rather than treasure. Unfortunately, the fact that a later printing of Crawl! No. 1 reprinted content from Crawl! #3 somewhat undermined the content and usefulness of Crawl! #3. Fortunately, Crawl! Issue Number Four was devoted to Yves Larochelle’s ‘The Tainted Forest Thorum’, a scenario for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game for characters of Fifth Level. Crawl! Issue V: Monsters continued the run of themed issues, focusing on monsters, but ultimately to not always impressive effect, whilst Crawl! No. 6: Classic Class Collection presented some interesting versions of classic Dungeons & Dragons-style Classes for Dungeon Crawl Classics, though not enough of them. Crawl! Issue No. 7: Tips! Tricks! Traps! was a bit of bit of a medley issue, addressing a number of different aspects of dungeoneering and fantasy roleplaying, whilst Crawl! No. 8: Firearms! did a fine job of giving rules for guns and exploring how to use in the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and Crawl! No. 9: The Arwich Grinder provided a complete classic Character Funnel in Lovecraftian mode. Lastly, Crawl! Number 10: New Class Options! provided exactly what it said on the tin and provided new options for the Demi-Human Classes.
Published in September, 2015, Crawl! Number 11: The Seafaring Issue takes the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game onto the ocean waves with a quintet of articles that provide new rules for sea going action and adventure, a new monster, and some campaign tools. Half of the issue is dedicated to a single article, ‘Naval Warfare for Ocean Crawlers’, by Bob Brinkman. This defines a ship by its type, size, crew types, propulsion type, top seed, Hit Points, Damage Reduction, and Armour Class. Two types of propulsion are discussed, oars or sails, and their strengths and weaknesses highlighted. Ships under sail are much faster, whereas ships propelled with oars are slower, but more manoeuvrable in close combat. The enormous size and sturdiness of the ships means that are actually hard to damage and so have Damage Reduction, the bigger the ship, the higher the Damage Reduction. For example, the Pinta, a caravel, has a Damage Reduction of ten, whereas a viking longship, has a Damage Reduction of four. However, ship’s weaponry, such as cannon, catapults, and fire throwers not only do damage, but also reduce a vessel’s Damage Reduction. Heavier cannon reduce Damage Reduction more, and the Damage Reduction can be cut even further depending upon the type of shot used. Similarly, spells capable of inflicting damage also reduce the Damage Reduction, with higher Level spells reducing it more. If a ship’s Damage Reduction is reduced to zero, it is no longer seaworthy.
In addition to a handful of example ships, the article also covers combat manoeuvres such as boarding and ‘Crossing the T’, and the role of the Player Characters in nautical adventures. One thing the article does make clear is that they are not invulnerable at sea. A direct hit from a cannon will kill a Player Character, and there is a table of ‘Brutal Injuries’, which includes flying splinters, falling rigging, and more. There are also tables for ‘Cannon Crits’ and ‘Cannon Fumbles’, ‘Fire Thrower Crits’ and ‘Fire Thrower Fumbles’. Further, like the sailors of back in the day, Player Characters cannot swim! Not so much sink or… as just sink. Notably, the rules in ‘Naval Warfare for Ocean Crawlers’ are sort of designed to be used on a hex grid and run as a kind of naval wargame, though this is suggested more as an aside in the text. Overall, the rules are serviceable and should provide a gaming group with enough to take their Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game to sea.
Accompanying ‘Naval Warfare for Ocean Crawlers’ is ‘Nautical Mighty Deeds’, also by Bob Brinkman. With tables for ‘Mighty Deeds of Boarding’, ‘Mighty Deeds of Gunnery (Cannon)’, and ‘Mighty Deeds of Piracy’ gives the Warrior-type Classes of Dungeon Crawl Classics with some nautical options to enhance the Mighty Deed of Arms mechanic, especially if a player wants his Warrior to be piratical!
Reverend Dak expands on the propulsion type in the earlier ‘Naval Warfare for Ocean Crawlers’ with ‘Fantastic Forms of Sea Ship Propulsion’. This offers eight alternatives to ships being sail or oar powered. These include sunjets, starsails, and moonsails for environmentally powered vessels before adding odder and odder options. For example, the Eel-ship is a deck and seats straddling the length of a giant eel, whilst the Turtle Ship is built into the shells of giant shells, and both require careful handling and feeding lest they dive under the sea! Two options are given the undead, especially if the captain is a necromancer or has a necromancer on board as a crewmember. One is having skeletons as crews of rowers, the other is Wind Wraiths. These are the angry spirits of bitter sailors that died at sea, ripped from their corpses and mounted on the rigging. Full stats are provided and they make for very grumpy shipmates!
With ‘The Deep Elder’ Daniel Bishop mixes some classic not-Mythos style creatures with some classic Dungeons & Dragons colour coding and ties it in with the Purple Duck Games scenario, The Portsmouth Mermaid. These starfish-like creatures worship Dagon, come in blue, green, and yellow flavours, each with their own weekly power. The blue Deep Elders cast Weather Control once a week to create storms that can isolate sailors in the dark; green Deep Elders can enthrall a target for up twelve rounds once a week; and yellow Deep Elders can cast Ray of Enfeeblement once a week. All of which is to work them into positions where they can posses any living creature and survive out of the deep ocean indefinitely… This enables them to further Dagon’s plans on land. One interesting option allows for Player Character possession and for the player to continue roleplaying the character. Such a character gains the ability of the Deep Elder, but loses his Class abilities. He can even gain a new Class and keep when the Deep Elder is driven out! It also represents a fantastic roleplaying challenge for any player.
Lastly, ‘Life Aboard’ by Sean Ellis presents a set of tables for running events at sea. These cover ‘Ship Morale’, ‘Wind Speed’, and ‘On-Board Events’, such as a Halfling Bumboat selling food and other goods or the crew hosting a ‘Church Service’ to some strange god in an act of impromptu religiosity. Accompanied by notes for health aboard the vessel, this is not a system for running campaigns at sea, but rather a collection of notes and prompts that the Judge can use to help her run her game.
Physically, Crawl! Number 11: The Seafaring Issue is decently done, a clean and tidy affair. The artwork—done by Mario T—is once again a lot of fun and has a nice sense of the nautical.
Crawl! Number 11: The Seafaring Issue is another serviceable issue. It is very specific, so if the Judge does not want to take her campaign to sea, then it is not as useful, but if she does, then the rules are very workable. It is a pity that it really on addresses the role of the Warrior Class at sea, but that is really the only downside to the issue. Otherwise, the Deep Elders could be a fun monster to work into a campaign, and the rest is shipshape and Bristol fashion enough for any seafaring Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game campaign.
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